Dragon Power
System: NES
Release Date: March 1988
Developer: TOSE
Publisher: Bandai
Genre: Action
I want to throw out there right now that I like Dragon Ball. I think it’s the best of the series. That being said, Dragon Power is terrible. I wanted to play this and be like, “It’s not that bad,” but I can’t in good conscience do that.
You are Goku, the only character who doesn’t receive a name change. The sprite during gameplay is changed to look like a monkey, which I get, Journey to the West stars a monkey. Dragon Ball is very, very loosely based on that Chinese property. Bulma becomes Nora. Oolong becomes Pudgy. Yamcha becomes Lancer. Master Roshi just becomes Hermit. I get making name changes in localization and that this is before Dragon Ball came to the US, so I’m not mad.
I’m going to be straight up. This game is hard. Goku jumps with the A Button and punches with the B Button. He has a power level that is constantly counting down, causing Goku to need to eat to replenish it. Unfortunately, you have to pray to RNGesus to give you a capsule after killing an enemy and also that the capsule contains food. This does not happen as much as you’d like it to, which causes you to die more than you’d like.
If you don’t get good drops, you’re dead. You really want a power pole and some meat chunks. If you don’t get a power pole early, you’ll probably die and have to continue from the beginning of the level. Luckily, there are unlimited continues, so you can keep it up and try to win through attrition. Even though you can try again and again, I couldn’t get past Yamcha’s level, despite almost 25 minutes of trying I quit with plenty of levels left.
What’s cool is the cut scenes that happen from time to time. Goku and Bulma… errr… Nora… talk back and forth. This hasn’t happened much up until this point, with narrative happening before you start the game or after you win. Master Roshi may have taken Bulma’s sandwich in this game, but we know what that really means.
Graphics: 1.5
The graphics are dumb and they make me unhappy. Goku is a monkey instead of a boy.
Sound: 1.5
The sound is poor. You don’t get music from the franchise, but kind of crappy stuff instead.
Gameplay: 1.0
Goku handles like doodoo. Hit boxes are too small. I didn’t get to the point where I could hit a Kamehameha.
Difficulty: 0.5
This game is too hard. Waaaaay too hard.
Fun Factor: 0.5
I wanted to have fun, but I failed at that.
Overall Grade: 1.0
Dragon Power earns a D. This game sucks, it’s a poor Dragon Ball game. Unfortunately, we didn’t get another one in the US for nearly 10 years.